Generally, wired and wireless internet communications are provided by connections via one or more links between network nodes. These connections can be wired or wireless, and can include both access network and backhaul connections. The nodes connected can include wireless access points such as base stations, user equipment, routers, optical devices and other core network nodes. The links are used to provide an end-to-end communications connection. A mechanism such as multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) may be used to direct data from one network node to the next based on short path labels that identify virtual paths between nodes, rather than the endpoints. Shortest path flow scheduling, however, tends to congest the shortest path links. Therefore it may reduce network throughput for best effort traffic, and it may create congested network spots that require operator attention. It also may block new flow establishment. An efficient network flow scheduling scheme, which could avoid or limit such unwanted situations and could improve network link utilization, is thus needed.